Discord Revenue And Usage Statistics (2022)

Discord originally launched in 2015, and was up against TeamSpeak and Skype. The other two platforms couldn’t really compete with what Discord could offer. As a result, this meant that Discord created a decent following in a short amount of time.

However, as so many people decided to join Discord, it meant the server would crash a lot. This was because the software struggled to meet up with the demand it was generating. 

Due to its popularity, it has meant this platform has been forced to grow much quicker. Therefore, a lot of people may have wondered how much money discord is making and its usage statistics. I have gathered together Discord’s revenue and usage statistics for 2022. This way we can see how well this platform is working. 

Discord Overview

The creator of Discord, Jason Citron, has recently sold his prior social gaming platform, OpenFeint, for $100 million. He was aware that Discord could significantly outperform what TeamSpeak and Skype had to offer by adopting a contemporary approach to online communication.

Using servers, Citron expanded Discord’s functionality beyond that of a text and audio chat service. Users may join a server, particularly for a game, rather than looking on Reddit or forums. Administrators were given the option to build sub-channels for particular themes or game styles as servers grew in popularity.

On Discord, there are over 10 million active servers. However, not all of these are related to games anymore.  Discord is still thought of as a gaming platform, but the team has made an effort to expand its reach in an attempt to contend with Microsoft Teams and Slack.

Discord initially just supported text and audio chat. However, in 2017, it incorporated screen sharing and video calling. Additionally, integrations with Spotify, Xbox Live, and Twitch have all been introduced.

While it is mostly associated with gaming, in March 2022, Discord changed its motto. Discord’s motto has changed from ‘Chat For Gamers’, to ‘Chat For Communities And Friends’. This is a sign that it now wants to step out of being a solely gaming community.

Discord’s Growth

League of Legends, Overwatch, and Fortnite, all of which had fairly basic communication features, helped e-sports gain popularity, which also contributed to Discord’s rise. The Discord software developed its own advertising campaign as even more Twitch streamers began using it.

Discord had trouble figuring out a business strategy despite its rapid expansion. This saw its monthly active users (MAUs) jump from 10 million in 2016 to 45 million in 2018. Digital stickers and goods were sold in the early years, but in 2017, that only brought in $10 million in revenue.

In 2018, Discord opened a games’ storefront with a carefully curated selection of games. It also introduced Discord Nitro, a premium service with access to the video games in the shop, more emoticons, a larger upload size, and server support.

Despite the fact that Discord Nitro is still active, the company discontinued the free games function in 2019 due to a lack of user interest. The storefront, which reportedly didn’t bring in much money for either Discord or the independent game creators, has since been put on hold. 

Despite the storefront’s failure, Discord is still in good shape. During the COVID-19 lockdown, usage skyrocketed. Most recently, it reported having over 100 million monthly active users.

Discord Revenue And Usage Statistics In 2022

It is known that Discord has 300 million registered accounts, with 140 million monthly active users. In fact, in 2021, Discord doubled its value from the previous year to $15 billion. We will get into more detail about all these areas, further on in the article.

Revenue Generated By Discord

Before we start talking about figures, it is important to note that Discord has not publicly disclosed any revenue figures. As a result, all the figures you are about to see are estimates. 

In 2020, Discord’s revenue climbed by 188%. Hence, in 2021, it was projected to produce more than $200 million. Below, is all the estimated figures Discord were projected between 2016 and 2021. 

• 2016 – $5 million,
• 2017 – $10 million,
• 2018 – $30 million,
• 2019 – $45 million,
• 2020 – $130 million,
• 2021 – $200 million

As a result, we could estimate that for 2022, Discord could have a revenue of around $400 million. This is as long as they continue to follow the increase of previous years.

Sources: EarthWeb and Forbes.

Users On Discord

Since it initially entered the market, Discord’s user base has been expanding quickly. In 2021, Discord saw a 40% increase in monthly active users to 140 million.

This platform is all about its users, and during the pandemic, you will notice this is when the server saw its biggest growth in terms of active users. 

• 2017 – 10 million users,
• 2018 – 45 million users,
• 2019 – 56 million users,
• 2020 – 100 million users,
• 2021 – 140 million users. 

At the time of writing, it is currently believed that in 2022, Discord has 150 million users. Hence, they have still made an increase, which is impressive.

Sources: Techspot and Cloudwards.

Daily Active Users On Discord

A lot more people have been signing up to Discord. Yet, while more people might be signing up, that doesn’t mean they are all active. However, slowly, as more people are turning to Discord and away from other platforms such as Skype, there are more active users. 

The following is the amount of active users found on Discord between 2017 and 2021. 

• 2017 – 10 million,
• 2018 – 45 million,
• 2019 – 70 million,
• 2020 – 120 million,
• 2021 – 190 million.

As a result, we can estimate that the daily active users number for 2022 is a minimum of 150 million users. 

Sources: The Small Business Blog. 

Active Servers On Discord

What makes Discord appealing is all the servers you can create and join. As Discord has slowly moved away from just being about gaming, this has meant a lot more servers have been created. 

Below we can see how quickly more active servers have been created. 

• 2018 – 4.4 million,
• 2020 – 6.7 million,
• 2021 – 13.5 million.

There isn’t much written about servers, yet we can see a trend that more active servers are constantly being created and used. As a result, we can predict that in 2022, there could be around 15 to 20 million active servers. Hence, it shows that more people are turning to Discord for various reasons. 

Source: Wersm.

Discord’s Value

As Discord has grown in popularity, it has therefore started to be valued a lot more as well. Hence, we know that every year, Discord will be worth a lot more than it did the year before. This is as long as Discord remains popular. 

• 2017 – $1.6 billion,
• 2018 – $2 billion,
• 2019 – 3.5 billion,
• 2020 – $7 billion,
• 2021 – $15 billion.

If we follow the trend outlined above, then in 2022 we could estimate that Discord will be worth around $20 to $30 billion. 

Sources: Cloudwards and Techcrunch.

Funding Discord Has Received

Since its launch, Discord is known to have received around $1 billion in funding in total. From Series H in September 2021, this gave Discord $500 million. Below is a complete list of all the funding Discord has received in recent years.

• 2012 – $1 million,
• 2013 – $9 million,
• 2016 – $29 million,
• 2017 – $80 million.
• 2018 – $280 million,
• 2020 – $480 million,
• 2021 – $980 million.

Source: ThinkImpact and Crunchbase.

Conclusion

Discord is presently going through a growth phase. It was once just a space for gamers, and now it is growing into a space that can be used by anyone. It is continually attracting more users, and both its revenue and value are rising.

The revenue and usage statistics for Discord in 2022 should continue on the increasing trajectory they have been on in recent years.

I hope this article has been helpful and given you a better sign into Discord’s revenue and usage statistics in 2022. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is The Biggest Discord Server In 2022?

As of August 2022, it is known that the dedicated Valorant server is the most popular on Discord. There is an estimate of 950 thousand members in the server. This is partially due to the game growing in popularity. (Source: Statista)

Who Uses Discord The Most?

At almost 42% of the platform’s viewership as of May 2022, users between the ages of 25 and 34 made up the largest percentage of Discord users globally. While, 22.2% of the total number of Discord users were 16 to 24-year-olds or younger. (Source: Statista)

How Many Messages Are Sent On Discord?

It is believed that around 25 billion messages are sent every month. This results in approximately 6 billion messages being sent every week. Then, just under a billion messages are sent every day using Discord. (Source: ThinkImpact)